Master Melissa McPeters and Gustavo El Diablo Sandi, deep and long friendship. (Gus, if I mention you here, will you read this book?;) Ian Brownlee, thank you for so many things, including allowing me to steal your day job, and for your incredible paintings and your talent. All paintings and murals described in this book belong to Ian Brownlee and can be viewed at www.ianbrownlee.com.
Dinesh Rajawasan, you’ve been my partner in crime from the crib. Here’s to so many more adventures together.
Reetika Vazirani, I never met you and I was deep into the writing of this book when I heard your story, but your voice was there all along. Your poetry endures.
If it takes a village to raise a writer, here are my villagers: Raj Ponniah and the Ponniah family, Dhumal Aturaliye, Muthoni Kiarie, Melissa Rae Sipin-Gabon, Sandip Roy, Shyam Selvadurai, Kathryn Shanks, Alina Moloney, Yael Martinez, Nathanael F. Trimboli, Susan Ruth, Faith Adiele, Janet Fitch, Jen Cat Kwong, Ajesh Shah, Hector Coronado, Meow Mix, Tara Dorabji, Cecile and Julie and Louise Missildine, Kavya and Saakya Rajawasan, Nina and Matt Missildine, Neelanjana Bannerjee, Nawaaz Ahmed, Serena Wong and Nick Van Eyck, Jolan Brogan and Scott Martinez, and the St. Martin’s de Porres House of Hospitality Tuesday Crew.
The various writing programs that have supported me: VONA Voices, Kearny Street Workshop’s IWL, Litquake, Write to Reconcile, and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.
About the Author
Nayomi Munaweera was born in Sri Lanka and grew up in Nigeria. She immigrated to the United States in her early teens and now lives in Oakland, California. Her first novel, Island of a Thousand Mirrors, won the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize for the Asian Region, was long-listed for the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize, and was short-listed for the 2013 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. You can sign up for email updates here.